A vehicle includes various structural components and systems. One structural component is the frame of the vehicle. The frame is the backbone of the vehicle which provides its shape, structure, and strength. Various types of frames have been developed over the years. One type of frame construction is the unibody frame construction. The unibody frame was designed toward the safety of passengers, by enclosing them in a steel shell or cabin. Particularly, the unibody frame provides the structural strength of the vehicle and also a location and mounting points for other systems that make the total chassis of the vehicle. The unibody frame construction is preferably made of steel and designed so that the body of the vehicle is mounted on top.
The unibody frame construction is commonly used by automobile manufacturers because of its inherent ability to absorb energy during a collision. Since the unibody frame of a vehicle is designed to absorb energy during a collision, the frame of the vehicle is commonly damaged or bent during a collision. Under such circumstances, the frame will need to be repaired or straightened after a collision so that the vehicle will be operable and meet industry standards.
Many devices aid in straightening a frame rail of a vehicle after a collision. Such devices include Mo-Clamp® collision repair tools manufactured by Pull-It Corporation and are found at www.moclamp.com. The Mo-Clamp® collision repair tools include various clamps and pulling devices which are used in straightening frame rails of a vehicle, such as the Frame Rack Dyna-Mo Clamp.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,095,729 and 5,233,858 (the '858 patent being a continuation of the '729 patent) disclose an apparatus for correcting misaligned automobile rails which includes a face plate to which is joined a three-piece wedge assembly. The wedge assembly enables an area of contact to be established between the apparatus and the interior of a misaligned rail so that a pulling force applied to the apparatus is transferred to the rail through a broad area of contact thereby decreasing the chance of further damage to the rail during the repair process.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0226340 A1 discloses a clamp for straightening an automobile body or frame which includes two gripping members for attaching a pull chain in such a manner that the gripping members may be pulled in any direction without repositioning the gripping members. The gripping members are rectangular plates and may have one or more D-shaped loops extending therefrom.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0199035 A1 discloses a multi-directional pull tool having a fist-like cylindrical end section from which an elongated box-shaped section extends. The tool is designed to attach to the square or rectangular opening at the end of a damaged frame rail.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,526,796 B1 discloses a vehicle body frame puller attachment which includes a generally triangular main member having three sides with opposite side edges extending along each of the sides.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,453,715 B1 discloses a gripping device for straightening a car body whereby the gripping device is gripped and a straightening force is directed at the gripping device with the aid of a pull tool. The gripping device includes a frame clamping member having gripping claws which can be brought around an edge of the target of the vehicle being repaired, a rotatable fastening member pivotally mounted to the frame clamping member and a pull tool, such as a chain or equivalent, whereto the pull tool is fastened. The rotatable fastening member is arranged to be rotated relative to the frame clamping member of the gripping device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,037 discloses a clamping apparatus for securing to and pulling upon an enlarged end of a longitudinal member of an automobile or vehicle chassis. The clamping apparatus has a pair of facing jaw members each having a bearing portion, a pulling portion, and an intermediate portion therebetween. The bearing portions each have a groove that substantially surrounds the periphery of the longitudinal member perpendicular to its longitudinal axis such that the clamping apparatus may not slide off the longitudinal member, while the bearing portions bear upon the enlarged end as an axial pulling force is transferred from the clamping apparatus to the automobile chassis.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,338,086 discloses a clamping device having a pair of complementary plates having opposed plane gripping surfaces at one end of each plate, one of the plates being a force plate with a force applying eye and the remaining plate being a jaw or gripping plate, movable relative to the force plate. The clamp further includes a flat semi-circular plate having threaded bored openings approximately equally spaced about a circular arc of the plate and an unthreaded bore located at a midpoint and offset from an edge formed by a diameter of the semi-circular plate. The clamp also includes a right-angle bracket which has slot openings and counter-sunk portions aligned with slot openings in the force plate.
These devices have various shortcomings which are addressed by the present invention.